TCDD signs high speed train contract

National operator TCDD Taşımacılık has formally signed a contract for preferred bidder Siemens to supply a further 10 Velaro high-speed trainsets. The contract announced on April 13 is worth around €340m, including three years of maintenance, repair and cleaning.

The latest order will take TCDD’s Velaro fleet to 17 trainsets. The first was procured in May 2013, when a Velaro D high-speed trainset was taken from Siemens’ production line and refitted for operation in Turkey. TCDD then awarded Siemens a contract to supply a further six eight-car trainsets, which operate between Ankara, Konya and Eskişehir. Tenders for an additional 10 eight-car trainsets were called in 2014, but a contract has only now been signed.

‘Our Velaro family is continuing to grow and write new chapters in its unique success story’, said CEO of Siemens’ Mobility Division Sabrina Soussan when the contract signing was announced on April 13. ‘With its capacity and comfort, the Velaro remains a benchmark for high speed trains. In Turkey, the train can fully utilise all its strengths and is already proving this in daily operation.’